Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

This thesis argues that the act of reading Barth’s Trinitarian theology of freedom in the Chin context helps the Chin to acquire a new understanding of the Trinity, which reminds them of how the triune God stands in solidarity with them in their hard situation and how the triune God gives them freedom, which empowers them to engage their sociopolitical environment in a positive way. The sense of this Trinitarian logic requests the Chin evangelical and ecumenical Christians to appropriate the implications of Barth’s Trinitarian theology for reshaping their Trinitarian misperceptions underlined by the tendency to perceive the Trinity in a detached and individualistic way. Their interaction with Barth’s view leads them to notice that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit always work in the shared divine mission of recreating, redeeming, and transforming humanity in its existential world. The picture of how the triune God embraces humanity and gives the gift of freedom to the latter basically reflects the indivisible, harmonious, and interdependent work of the triune God. This Trinitarian imagination will stand as a constructive inspiration for Chin theologians and pastors to improve their “pastoral” engagement with the suffering Chin, and also to reclaim the “political” role of Chin Christianity in response to the realities of their sociopolitical context. The function of this Trinitarian principle primarily deals with how the belief of God’s solidarity with humanity inspires the life of the dehumanized Chin and how their encounter with God in this setting transforms and shapes them to live freely for God and for the good of others.

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